It's beginning to look a lot like CHRISTMAS!!!
Another thing we did over the holiday weekend was put up our Christmas decorations!!!



We don't have very many , but it was fun to pull out what we had and reminisce. We received some things from Aunt Ruthie that passed away last year so that was special to see her talent displayed again.

Do you think Mike looks at all like his brothers??! These are some classic pictures of how well Mike and his brothers, Dan & Andy, get along. Enjoy!

Yeah, we're done with the drywall!! Since we weren't snowed out from the cabin yet we went there over the Thanksgiving weekend for one last time. We were able to finish putting up all the drywall, so now we have just a little more pine siding to do in the loft and then the cabin will be sealed up inside! It's so exciting to see how far we've come and how good everything looks.
We were also able to finish up smaller things, like the wood around the stove pipe, installing the blinds, and hooking up some outside and inside lights.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

We hope that all of you enjoyed your Thanksgiving feast with family and friends. We spent the day with Mike's Dad's side of the family. We enjoyed eating until we were too full and then eating again. You can see that Mike thoroughly enjoyed the pie part of the meal!

Christina's assignment was to bring the rolls to dinner so for the first time ever Christina baked rolls. She knew she should have asked her Grandma for her yummy recipe, but she found a recipe on line that seemed simple enough so she tried them. They took so long and they only turned out okay, so Christina has learned her lesson - either use her Grandma's recipe or buy them.









We also decided to be a little crazy and try for a doorbuster laptop from Best Buy. It was FREEZING cold outside, but we waited from 12:30 am on the day after Thanksgiving until 5 am! It was pretty ridiculous, but we just bundled up with everything we had and we watched our little DVD player and waited. The line was super long even at 12:30, so even after all of that waiting we didn't get what we came for. :-( The good thing is that we decided not to fall into their ploy and buy something anyway. We just went home and crashed in bed at 6 am on Friday. We're crazy...as if you didn't already know that!! :)

the line and our "neighbors"...

So this past weekend may have been our last weekend up at the cabin for awhile. It snowed about 6 -7 inches, so it's a good thing we got the snow shield up and the chimney secure. We are hoping to have a few more weeks to go up and finish more things, but I guess we'll just have to see because when it snows at the cabin it snows! The cabin is usually covered in snow past the front door, and as of right now we don't have working snow mobiles so we'll see when the next time is that we can get to go the cabin. It will definitely be weird to have our weekends back...but good. :-)


Even if we can't make it back to the cabin for awhile the outside is ready for winter, and the inside is almost completely sealed up. We finished most of the drywall in the loft and Uncle Steve helped give us power. So luckily we have enough done to know that the cabin will stay safe and secure through the winter.

The cabin is really starting to come together. A great thing that happened this past weekend was that we finished installing the insulation!! We are finally done with that pink death so now we can breath easier. Now that the insulation and plastic are up the next big project on the cabin checklist is drywall in the loft!!! We are getting there!



Mike's brother and Dad worked hard on finishing up the pine boards on the main floor. Dan figured out a system and tacked up a lot of the pine boards that cover the insulation between the wall and the loft floor. It looks so beautiful!










Another big thing is that we got a new stove for the cabin. It's a flat top full range and they got it for a killer deal because there is a small dent on the top that is barely noticeable. It definitely makes the kitchen feel more like a kitchen.

We had another good couple of weekends at the cabin . The power stayed on and it wasn't too cold so we were able to get a lot of things done, which was nice.

The biggest project that we finished recently was the chimney. As you can see, we had to make the chimney quite high to pass above the roof for ventilation, but with it being so high it wasn't very sturdy.

So Mike and his Dad created a support system to keep the pipe solid using metal conduit. A lot of other cabin owners only use wire that they have to readjust every year because it comes loose. Our pipe isn't moving anywhere!

Then Mike's brother Dan had made a snow shield for the pipe so that when the winter comes the snow won't put too much pressure on the it.




Now the chimney looks heavy duty and secure so it will last "another 400 years" as Mike's Dad says. Hopefully so!